


Necessary for Survival

by MerlinWinchestr



Category: Black Sails
Genre: Carrying, Enemy to Caretaker, Support, Whumptober 2020, no. 7
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:01:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26864830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MerlinWinchestr/pseuds/MerlinWinchestr
Summary: He’d royally screwed things up, and if he was going to have a shot at getting out of this alive, he unfortunately needed Captain Flint. But the other man was not going to make it easy.
Kudos: 6





	Necessary for Survival

**Author's Note:**

> **Category:** Gen  
>  **Rating:** T  
>  **Characters:** John Silver  
>  **Warnings:** None  
>  **Setting:** End of 1X08  
>  **Prompt:** Whumptober 2020 No. 7: Support, carrying, enemy to caretaker.

# Necessary for Survival

Silver gasped for air as his head broke the surface of the water. Pirates thrashed all around him, some already swimming for shore while others screamed for help as they slipped below the surface. A few of the men were helping their shipmates toward shore, but no one even looked in his direction. Which was fair considering what he had done. 

Ignoring the men he recognized but couldn’t name, Silver searched the struggling heads for the one man who did matter to his survival. He’d royally screwed things up, and if he was going to have a shot at getting out of this alive, he unfortunately needed Captain Flint. Problem was, Flint was not making his way to shore nor was he one of the thrashing heads around him. 

Well shit. 

Flint had been one of the first overboard, Silver was certain of that. And if he wasn’t one of those swimming for sure, then that left only one other options. Cursing, Silver took a deep breath and dived. The salt burned his eyes, but the water was clear and not yet tinted red, though the debris created a floating obstacle course. 

Silver searched, eyes and lungs burning, but none of the bodies were Flint’s. Maybe a piece of debris had—there! Just as his lungs were about to give out, Silver spotted a familiar coat sinking slowly only a couple yards down toward his right. Lungs begging for air, Silver surfaced, took a deep breath, and dived once more. He was a decently strong swimmer, but the debris field was doing him no favors. A large piece of railing careened by, slamming into his shoulder and knocking him around. He lost precious air in a muffled shout, but pulled himself together quickly and painfully made his way down to Flint. The older man’s eyes were closed, but a few bubbles still escaped and Silver took that as a good sign of life. 

His lungs screaming for air, Silver wrapped his arm around Flint’s chest and kicked up. Flint gave no struggle, but he offered no help either. Silver’s lungs were on fire, his eyes aching, and each kick felt like a step back. He would have made faster progress hauling a sack of bricks, but Silver just tightened his grip and swam up. 

And then he was breaking the surface and his lungs screamed as he gulped in as much air as he possibly could. Flint was a dead weight in his arms, his head flopping and dipping back below the surface. Silver struggled to readjust, doing his best to position Flint’s head in a way that he wouldn’t be underwater. He was rewarded by the older man taking in a shaky breath, though his eyes didn’t open. Silver sighed in relief; things on shore would be far more difficult if he didn’t have this angry fool alive. 

Lungs finally filled and only mildly protesting, Silver began the slow tread toward shore. The chaos had begun to settle down with the majority of the crew having already either made it to shore or drowned. By the tie he reached shallow waters, Silver was exhausted. It was a mixed blessing when he felt the sand beneath his feet. A blessing because he could finally stand and keep his own head above the water, but a curse because now he had to drag Flint’s dead weight with no help from the water. There was no way he could carry the man, so he simply wrapped his arms under Flint’s and dragged the man ashore. He couldn’t be bothered to carry them to dry sand, so the moment they were out of danger of the tide, Silver let the captain drop unceremoniously onto the sand. A second later, he collapsed only a foot or so away. 

He breathed hard, his lungs sending silent protests with each breath he took. The salt still stung his eyes, but there was nothing he could do for that until he found some fresh water. The very idea of getting to his feet to search for water sounded like pure hell, so Silver just closed his eyes and laid in the sand, soaking in the warm sun. 

Then someone cocked a gun just above him. 

“You’re worse than a cockroach.

Silver groaned, but opened his eyes to see Dufresne and another man who’s name he really didn’t care to remember standing above him. 

“So I’ve been told.” At least his voice wasn’t hoarse. It’s the small things.

“Give me one good reason I shouldn’t shoot you right now.” 

“Other then the fact that I’d really rather like to keep breathing?” 

Whatever Dufresne’s response was going to be, it was cut off by a sharp whistle. Someone came running across the sand, whispering quiet words to Dufresne. The two whispered quietly for a few moments, and Silver let his eyes close again. He only opened them again when a foot kicked him hard in the ribs. Dufresne stepped back and motioned with the pistol. 

“Up.” 

Sighing, Silver did as he was told, his body protesting with each move. Dufresne shoved him, directing him up a dune and toward a few of the other survivors. None looked particularly pleased to see him, but Silver didn’t care. All that mattered was that he was alive and moving, even if it felt like his limbs weighed a thousand pounds. The small group continued up the dune, none speaking or making any noise at all. The reason soon became obvious as they topped another dune and peered down at the wreckage of a ship. 

Urca de Lima. 

Silver grinned, everything suddenly falling into place. At a prodding from Dufresne, the group fell back towards their side of the beach, leaving two men to watch the Spanish sailors and, more importantly, the gold. When they reached the beach, Dufresne left a guard on Silver while the rest of the crew drew away to discuss their next moves. For a moment, Silver considered running, but his guard growled—literally growled—when he so much as twitched. He shrugged and rested his weight gingerly on one leg, wincing as his legs began to ache from overexertion. 

“We’re going to take a vote.” Dufresne announced when he returned a few minutes later. “You run, you die regardless of the vote. I highly suggest you stay put and make sure he—” he gestured toward Flint’s unmoved body—“stays alive. We want him well enough to hang.” 

“And here I thought there was going to be a vote.” Silver taunted, but Dufresne didn’t rise to the bait and simply walked away. 

His guard grunted and sat down in the sand where he could easily keep an eye on him. Sighing again, Silver made his way back to Flint, noticing for the first time the growing stain of red sand beneath the man. A plan beginning to form in his mind, Silver bent down and grasped Flint under his arms once more and dragged the man away from the bloody sand. 

As he started unbuttoning Flint’s shirt, Silver couldn’t help but laugh at himself. All this work to save a man who would probably try and kill him the moment he woke up. But, as they say, desperate times call for desperate measures. If keeping Flint alive meant he stayed alive, then he would do everything in his power to keep the man alive. Because he hadn’t lied to Dufresne for once; he really would like to keep on breathing. Even if it meant breathing this goddamned salty air.

**Author's Note:**

>  **Author’s Note:** This is my first foray into writing for _Black Sails_ and of course I decided to write it when I didn’t have access to the show. So this little fic was written based off of my memory of the final scenes from the end of season 1. I'm really happy with the ending, but I'm not to upset with the story overall. Hope you enjoy!


End file.
